Everybody was hurting this past week — beloved alt-rock breakthrough band R.E.M. has bid farewell to legions of fans the world over via a humble albeit abrupt goodbye message to fans:

“To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.”

If you’ve stumbled onto our blog, you’re no doubt one of millions of people searching the ‘net for solace, an explanation, or perhaps more nuggets of info on the band that, as that press has been touting, ‘provided the soundtrack to our lives.’

[R.E.M. was center stage on the trailer AND the story in the 2009 indie documentary The End of the World As We Knew It, a look at the FCC Telecommunications Act of 1996 and how it led to the demise of Cleveland rock radio station 107.9FM/The End.]

There’s no doubt that R.E.M. was in the soundtrack business, and not just for our collective 24/7’s. They provided stellar soundtracks to the movies, and TV, and we were pleased to run into this pretty great piece on Moviefone.com‘s blog. We applaud writer Gary Susman‘s September 22 article, How R.E.M. Changed Movies, and hope you’ll give it a read — no matter what you thought of the band, Susman gives good insight into the impact a good movie soundtrack can have on all aspects of a film, including and especially the actors.

As music hounds as well as film hounds, the LFC is right there with Susman in paying tribute to R.E.M. and the awesome movie moments they helped create. Next time you take a walk through your music collection, be sure you perk up your ears to that DVD collection as well.

How R.E.M. Changed Movies – by Gary Susman
R.E.M.’s announcement on Wednesday that the band plans to “call it a day” prompted tearful recollections from fans about the Georgia group’s indelible impact on the world of music over the past 31 years. (Cue “Everybody Hurts.”) Less noted has been their impact on the world of movies. Besides appearing on dozens of soundtracks, the members of R.E.M. were instrumental in producing some of the most interesting and innovative movies of the last couple decades. –>Read the full article